Denison fraternity to honor Navy pilot, alum killed in 1966

6:36 AM,
Sep. 27, 2012

Sigma Chi alumni house manager Bill Mason holds a memorial for a pilot who was killed in Vietnam.

Written by

Brian Miller
Advocate Reporter

GRANVILLE -- Forty-six years after Navy Lt. Gary D. Hopps died when the plane he piloted was shot down in Vietnam, his Denison University fraternity brothers are taking care of some unfinished business.

Hopps was part of the Navy's 145th Attack Squadron attached to the USS Ranger, an aircraft carrier. On Feb. 10, 1966, his plane was one of three that took part in a reprisal attack against two North Vietnamese targets -- a highway bridge and an overpass, according to a Navy citation. Both were vital communications links the citation said.